Filmed at Thornhill Community Academy near Dewsbury, Educating Yorkshire captures every detail of life in the school, from playground hijinks and inspirational lessons to life-changing events. It follows the work of Headteacher Jonny Mitchell to better the chances for all his students and build on successive years of improving exam results.
Located at the heart of a diverse northern community and with a student population that is almost exactly half white-British and half British-Asian, the school offers a fascinating insight into modern school life in the UK. Told with warmth and humour, Educating Yorkshire explores the universally-recognisable themes of teenage life and those all-important pupil-teacher relationships that lie at the heart of everyone's formative years.

HIDE

Channel 4 goes back to school at Thornhill Community Academy to catch up with some of the best-loved characters from Educating Yorkshire. They're a year older and a whole range of things have changed for the students: trouble-makers have turned around their reputations; love is in the air; and new challenges are faced at school and college.
Many of the old Year 11s who couldn't wait to escape are now missing Thornhill more than they would ever have imagined. For Musharaf, who spent his school days crippled by a stammer, the final few months of school and life beyond its walls have brought him a new-found confidence, which continues to grow.
While the students' lives are ever-changing, Mr Mitchell and his team are still on a mission to make Thornhill a first-choice school while keeping the teenagers' behaviour in check.

Catching up with the staff and pupils of Thornhill Community Academy near Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, and following a selection of students as they find out how they did in their GCSEs. Musharaf captured the attention of the nation by overcoming his stammer and is now at college trying to fulfil his ambition to become a teacher, while Sheridan is learning to drive and hoping to achieve a grade C in maths. Headmaster Mr Mitchell and teachers including Mr Burton and Mr Steer prepare for the end of the school year and those important exams

Series Premiere

— 2013-09-05T23:00:00+03:00 — 45 mins

This episode follows new Head Teacher Mr Mitchell on his mission to improve the school's fortunes. He's 18 months into his first ever headship and wants to revolutionise the school's ethos, results and reputation. But every day his vision is challenged by the trickiest of adversaries: teenagers.

This programme follows the fallout from a chance clash between the queen bee of the 'cool group' and a member of the quieter crowd.
In their quest to prepare every student for life beyond the school gates, Head Teacher Mr Mitchell and his team are left with difficult decisions about who needs to be dealt with and how.
The students anxiously wait to learn their fates - for one, this means seeing if she will suffer the ultimate punishment of not being allowed to go to the end of school prom.

This episode focuses on two strikingly similar boys: one nearing his final year and another who's starting out at secondary school. Both are exploding with energy and charm but, to their teachers' frustration, neither of them is particularly interested in learning.
As Year 10 student Tom approaches his GCSEs, his failure to settle down is starting to cause concern. And although Year 7 Robbie-Joe's constant chatter seems harmless (and is often hilarious) his teachers are worried it's a sign of more serious things to come.
The programme follows the school in their attempts to channel Tom and Robbie-Joe's boundless energies in the right direction, revealing how a chance, life-changing event radically alters the course of Tom's year and watching as the school do all they can to intervene early with Robbie-Joe.
Ultimately, this is a film about two inspirational teachers guiding two lively lads through some of the toughest times they will face at school.

This episode presents the unlikely friendship of Hadiqa and Safiyyah. As headteacher Mr Mitchell says, these are the last two children that you'd expect to be best mates.
Irrepressibly chatty Safiyyah punctuates every sentence with 'innit'. She dreams of becoming an air hostess, while gifted student Hadiqa has her sights set on becoming prime minister.
As pastoral year leader Mrs Crowther knows only too well, close friendships mean everything when you're a teenager.
But as exams approach, a crisis in Hadiqa and Safiyyah's friendship threatens to derail the girls academically and cause major upset.

Everything changes in Year 9. It's full of hormonal 13-year-olds and is a critical academic turning point as the students choose their options for GCSE.
It's a year when Thornhill's students, hopefully, do some dramatic growing up but it's also the year with the worst behaviour record in the school.
Tasked with guiding his students through a perfect storm of adolescent pressures is Head of Year Mr Moses: an unlikely pacifier of teenage angst.
His job, as a pastoral leader, is to keep every Year 9 student on the straight and narrow. This year, one student proves particularly testing and strikes a chord with Mr Moses.
Meanwhile, not all is complete in the Head of Year's own life: Mr Moses is looking for love.

Exams are approaching at Thornhill and it's not just the students that are feeling the pressure. From highly experienced deputy head Mr Steer to newly qualified teachers, everyone is feeling the demands of the school's ever increasing targets.
Mr Steer is in charge of the school's attainment and, as a rapidly improving academy, it's crucial that he makes sure that results are the very best they can be.
Mr Steer is also a star maths teacher and this year he has a particularly tough challenge as he takes on a group of girls more interested in hair, make-up and parties than algebra and trigonometry.
They're achieving U grades when he takes them on, and he's determined to get them that crucial C in maths that will ensure them places in college.
Pretty and popular Sheridan, who's at the heart of the group, proudly tells her friends 'I love maths me; I'm just shit at it.'
But while concentrating in maths is a real problem, it's nothing compared to how she behaves in geography. New teacher Miss Stephens, who's 24, is tasked with getting Sheridan through her geography GCSE, but engaging Sheridan in academic debate around the European Union is not easy.
As the clock ticks down to the all-important exams, and stress levels soar, Mr Steer pushes himself to the limit...

It's the final months of school and the Year 11 students are preparing for life beyond Thornhill.
English teacher Mr Burton is one of a kind. He's an Assistant Head at just 30 years old, and music, fancy-dress and jumping on tables are all part of his teacher's toolkit. This year, he has his most challenging C/D borderline class so far, and two of his students pose very different challenges.
Musharaf has a severe stammer, and anxiety about leaving Thornhill seems to have made it worse. As Musharaf prepares for his GCSE English oral exam, Mr Burton is prepared to try any tactic, no matter how unusual, to help improve his fluency.
Meanwhile, Hannah would be capable of A grades, were it not for her aversion to staying in class. The school staff are concerned about her not achieving her potential, and wish she'd devote more energy to staying in lessons than finding excuses to escape them.
Can Mr Burton's unique teaching style help his students make the grade?

Channel 4 goes back to school at Thornhill Community Academy to catch up with some of the best-loved characters from Educating Yorkshire. They're a year older and a whole range of things have changed for the students: trouble-makers have turned around their reputations; love is in the air; and new challenges are faced at school and college.
Many of the old Year 11s who couldn't wait to escape are now missing Thornhill more than they would ever have imagined. For Musharaf, who spent his school days crippled by a stammer, the final few months of school and life beyond its walls have brought him a new-found confidence, which continues to grow.
While the students' lives are ever-changing, Mr Mitchell and his team are still on a mission to make Thornhill a first-choice school while keeping the teenagers' behaviour in check.

Catching up with the staff and pupils of Thornhill Community Academy near Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, and following a selection of students as they find out how they did in their GCSEs. Musharaf captured the attention of the nation by overcoming his stammer and is now at college trying to fulfil his ambition to become a teacher, while Sheridan is learning to drive and hoping to achieve a grade C in maths. Headmaster Mr Mitchell and teachers including Mr Burton and Mr Steer prepare for the end of the school year and those important exams